Photo credit: Beng Hui Eu
The Steve McQueens found time in between tours of Australia and South Korea to bring their magic jazz-soul-funk ride to home fans at the Annexe Sessions on Thursday, September 29th.
The Esplanade’s spanking new venue The Annexe got off to a flying start earlier this month with scintillating performances from the Chok Kerong Trio and In Each Hand a Cutlass.
CHARLIE LIM
The amount of new music releases in 2015 is staggering. And it’s basically impossible to be able to listen to everything out there. But when it comes to Singapore Rock, well then it is possible to almost do just that.
Thus, a justification for this list – our recommendations for those of you who have recently come aboard the S-ROCK train. Welcome to the rest of your life!
What can I say about Seamonster? I feel like just grabbing you, dear reader, by the throat and screaming into your ear – “BUY THE FUCKING ALBUM NOW!” and not feel any guilt about such a violent outburst at all.
But seriously folks, what can I say about Seamonster?
That this amazing band viz. Joshua Wan (keyboards), Fabian Lim (saxophone), Jase Sng (bass), Aaron Lee (drums) and Ginny Bloop (vocals) has made jazz improvisation appealing to the soul with ten tracks that beggar belief for its technical excellence and emotional resonance. Every single member is a master of his instrument but together, they form an indefinable creature – a veritable Seamonster!
You want instrumental virtuosity? You can, in spades! You want irresistible grooves? Again, there are loads to spare here.
And the icing on the cake? The absolute tipping point into pure unbridled adulation?
Ginny Bloop – an idiosyncratic front-person who is at once sexy and quirky, possessed of a unique larynx that twists and turns like some leviathan, clothed with a personality that is also tongue-in-cheek woman-child – an unstoppable force!
See what I mean? Incomprehensible babbling of a madman touched by the magic of The Steve McQueens. You have been warned!
Seamonster is available in Singapore on all major digital music platforms. Physical copies of the CD can also be ordered at www.stevemcqueens.com
… still there’s more …
Another Saturday, another Singapore album launch!
Definitely, this is going to be the big one – by now The Steve McQueens are a well-oiled machine, having plied their trade in Europe already.
SingJazz Club also provides a suitable ambience for the band’s smooth soul-jazz-pop and Ginny Bloop’s on-stage antics, so a splendid time is guaranteed is all.
Not to mention that Seamonster is a stellar combination of instrumental virtuosity and Ginny’s indomitable aural attitude, so this gig practically recommends itself.
Don’t miss this. Tickets still available at the door.
… still there’s more …
Loads happening this Saturday, 11th July is you are a local music fan. Blame it partly on SG50 funding but also on renewed interest in S-ROCK. Are you ready? Here we go!
RILEK JACK RAMADHAN ACOUSTIC SESSIONS
SINGAPORE STORIES – URBAN SCREENING
Featuring Cherie X Ferry.
Checking our the TODAY feature also.
PUNKED OUT! 2
JONATHAN MEUR – HOW TO BUILD A KITE ALBUM LAUNCH
SHINE FESTIVAL
… still there’s more …
Photo by Fandy Razak
I remember the first time Eugenia Yip caught my eye. This is what I wrote in a live review in TODAY, a few years back.
Riot !n Magenta is a relatively new duo consisting of singer/songwriter Eugenia Yip and keyboardist/producer Hayashida Ken and proved to be a totally different proposition. Yip is a dynamic soulful vocalist and managed to coax members of the audience to come to the front of the stage to groove to Ken’s contemporary-sounding beats. What the songs lacked in terms of conventional tunes, Yip make the most of with the range of her voice and her sultry on-stage persona. Certainly, the duo holds much promise for the future.
Now a quintet, Riot !n Magenta have a new EP out – Voices (I reviewed it here) – and will be playing at the So Happy: 50 Years of Singapore Rock exhibition opening at the Substation Theatre on the 8th April alongside The Oddfellows and Pinholes.
But Ginny (as she likes to be called) is at the centre of attention – whether it be fronting R!M or her other amazing band, The Steve McQueens. So I thought it would be awesome to get Ginny to respond to some of my queries and she obliged! Enjoy…
Are the new songs about relationships? Even damaged ones?
They’re mostly about personal realizations, or things I experience and feel for very strongly. I wrote “Voices”, inspired by the strength of three women I look up to very much. Nothing inspires me more than the giving of unconditional love, even through the toughest of times. The new songs are a little darker, a little older. “Running” was written about the process of letting go of a past made up of regrets, or even happier times that you struggle to forget, because they tend to remind you of what you’ve lost, but in an insanely more painful way. It is about finding happiness from forgiveness, both given and received.
